


peonies

by Author404



Category: The Walking Dead (TV)
Genre: Blood and Injury, Established Relationship, Flirting, Fluff, Hurt/Comfort, M/M, Savior! Rick Grimes, Self-Indulgent, Sharing a Bed, baths, but still, cut cleaning aka blueh, fear of ones own blood, its not that bad
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-04-19
Updated: 2019-04-19
Packaged: 2020-01-16 15:31:39
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,457
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18524383
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Author404/pseuds/Author404
Summary: Negan comes back to Sanctuary with a "minor" injury. Rick is concerned.





	peonies

**Author's Note:**

> IM SORRY THIS TOOK SO LONG. April 10th to April 19th, wow. sorry y'all! but don't worry! i have Easter special(s?) on the way! be patient!

Negan groaned as he stepped out of the truck. He had been thrown around on that run. They were raiding some old barn, probably nothing there, but hey! Worth a fucking shot, right? Apparently not, screamed his shoulder. 

 

Some mini-herd had come through, out of fuckin’ nowhere. They had ‘brought the house down’. If not for Arat dragging his stupid ass out of the way of some falling timber, he’d be dead right now. A couple of the dumb sticks had gotten him anyway. 

 

He reached over and grabbed Lucille from her place next to the front seat, despite the shoulder pain. He winced. Maybe there was a sprain there. Instead of throwing the bat over his shoulder like he always did, Negan carried her at his side. Arat climbed from the driver’s seat. 

 

“Negan.” She looked concerned. 

“Huh?” Had he been bitten? Oh god. Rick would flip his shit if he heard.  _ If _ he heard. Negan didn’t have to tell him. His smart brain slapped him right in the face and told him not to. Yeah, that was a terrible idea. Why would he ever do that? But what if- 

 

“Are you alright?” She looked genuine. Arat lightly touched his good shoulder. He brushed her hand off. 

 

“I'm good.” Negan reassured her. She didn’t look convinced. “Really, don’t get your panties in a twist.” Arat rolled her eyes and turned to bark orders at the lower class saviors. He managed a proud smile. Negan turned on his heel and headed into Sanctuary. 

 

The door opened and Rick looked up from the aged book. Aged meaning scratched and pummeled from probably a dozen panicked feet clambering into the store  _ before  _ all… this. 

 

The light creaks let him know Negan was back even before he saw the man’s leather jacket. Lucille was deposited by the door. He didn't cheerfully swagger up to Rick like he always did though. “Love?” 

 

Rick saw a tiny smile at the pet name. Negan stripped off his jacket like a second skin and hung it on the door. 

 

He turned to Rick and sat down, tapping his fingers lightly. “Hey, babe.” His arm was scratched up bad. The bruises were fresh paintings of black and purple up arm and bicep. 

 

Negan followed Rick’s eyes to his wounds. “Oh, I’m fine. Just some fuckin’ twigs, that’s all.” Rick pulled back Negan’s sleeve and visibly winced. “Babe, I’m fine. Just a couple jabs.” 

 

“Love, you’re bleeding.” Rick lightly pulled his collar back and it stung. Cloth ran over the wound roughly even though he barely pulled it an inch. “Negan.” Negan looked at Rick with fond eyes. 

 

“I- I guess I need some patching up.” He smiled and looked away. Rick chuckled a bit and stood up. Negan rubbed his thumb against his middle finger unconsciously. Rick swooped into the bathroom. He came out again after a minute. 

 

“Negan, c’ mere.” He beckoned Negan with his hand to follow. Negan pushed himself up from the table with his good arm and awkwardly stood in the bathroom. Rick followed and laughed a bit. “Sit down.” He realized that Rick had to look up at him. 

 

“Oh.”

 

He sat on the edge of the running tub.  There was a box of bandages balanced on the sink along with a washcloth. Negan stripped off his shirt and placed it off to the side. For the first time, he saw how bad the wounds actually were. His shoulder was covered in blood and dark bruises. “Jesus.” The bleeding had stopped but it was still pretty nasty. 

 

Negan had some minor cuts all over from whatever had happened as well as… That. “What happened?” This was apparently the first time Negan was seeing his whole wound. 

 

“I- Um- Uh- I don’t know, there was some fuckin’ things and they, uh, they- The roof collapsed on us. And, uh, shi- shit I got hit by some of the planks, I guess- Fuck.” Rick took Negan’s face in his hands and stroked his messy black hair. Doing that always seemed to make him calm down. 

 

Negan's breathing slowed to a normal pace as Rick traced circles in Negan's hair with his fingers. Rick shut off the water with one hand, the bath full. Negan closed his eyes and Rick took this as an opportunity to wet the washcloth. 

 

Negan visibly winced but he kept quiet, letting Rick run the cloth over his bloody shoulder. The dried blood was cracking off like an aged work of art into the bathtub. Red flecks swam around in the water. “Negan.” He whispered. The man drew in a breath from the washcloth being pulled away, taking bits of red stained skin with it. 

 

Rick foraged around the cabinet under the sink for rubbing alcohol and a clean washcloth. He could hear Negan get into the bath. There we go. He pulled out a bottle of hydrogen peroxide and a rag. Negan still was shaking a bit and looking at anything that wasn't his arm. 

 

Despite the “tough son of a bitch” mask Negan had, most of it was an act. He was different when he wasn't in front of the Saviors. Softer. More vulnerable. Despite all the shit that's happened after he found Rick in Atlanta, Negan still didn't like the look of his own blood. 

 

“Love, calm down. This'll sting a bit.” Rick resumed playing with his hair. He popped open the bottle and poured some of it on the new washcloth. Negan nervously tapped his thumb against the wall. Rick pressed the washcloth at his shoulder. 

 

Negan cursed and stopped tapping his finger. The cut wasn't that deep but there was a big piece of wood stuck in there. “Love.” Rick rubbed the shoulder and Negan nodded. He dug his hand into the wound. This wasn't safe. Somehow, Negan managed to stay still. 

 

Rick yanked out a stick. It was thin and sharp and covered in blood and whatever else you found in shoulders. Negan looked sick. “Hey, hey, hey, it's alright. You're ok now, baby, it's ok.” Rick plopped the splinter in the garbage can. Negan's wound was clean and empty now. Rick took to the other cuts on his chest now. 

 

Rick ran his warm hands over Negan's chest, finding more minimal scratches. Whatever the fuck had come out of his shoulder was gone but it was still sore. Negan tried to roll it but the bruises shrieked again. He gave up and let Rick clean his injuries. Man, was he covered in blood or something? It gave way from all over, dripping off. 

 

When he was finally clean, Rick tapped his (good) shoulder lightly. Negan’s eyes snapped up to meet his beloved’s. “Love, c’ mon.” Oh. Rick smiled and held a hand out. Negan took it and stepped out. He wrapped a towel around himself at the waist. He disappeared into their room with a muffled “thank you”. 

 

Rick joined him after putting everything back where it belonged. He could hear the rain pattering on the windows. Negan was back to normal now. He was fiddling with the corner of the blanket. “Hey.” Negan greeted Rick when he saw him. Rick crawled into bed next to him. 

 

He wrapped his arms around the taller man's waist, pulling Negan closer. “Honey, it's ok.” Rick assured him with a kiss to the forehead. He was pretty sure Negan was purring. 

 

Negan pulled himself forward by Rick’s arms and rested his chin on the man’s shoulders. He nuzzled Rick’s neck with his cheek and closed his eyes. Negan fell asleep like that. 

 

“Love.” 

 

“Five-” Yawn. “Five more minutes, babe.” Negan tightened his arms around Rick. 

 

“Sweetie, I just got a call from Joey-” Negan sprang up. Rick giggled at his horrible bedhead. 

 

Negan turned to Rick and winked. “As much as I would love to hear that noise again, is it those guys who blew up Tommy and the Dick Brigade?” Rick rolled his eyes and nodded. Negan moved to throw on a T-shirt. Rick got up and hugged Negan from behind. 

 

“Or we could just stay here.” Negan squirmed at the lips on his neck but he pushed Rick away. 

 

“Listen, baby, I do _not_ appreciate them killing my men, _our_ men.” 

 

Rick removed his body from Negan’s. “Alright.” He eyed Lucille laying against the wall and swung her over his shoulder. If anyone else did this, they’d be dead the second their hands touched her handle. 

 

After Negan seemed to have found a shirt, he turned to smirk at Rick. “But after we explain the rules to them a bit-” He somehow moved at lightning speed. “You are _all_ mine.” The words were snarled into Rick’s ear and he felt himself shudder. 

**Author's Note:**

> sdfghjk i know the purring was dumb but I liked it! 
> 
> thanks for reading!
> 
> comment, subscribe, request!
> 
> -a busy Faye 
> 
> also off topic but I could launch into a weird-ass rant about flower symbolism and Regan so ahahhaha my mind is a mess rn


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